We are seeing much more demand in the private sector, for permanent heads rather than temp support. This has been most prominent in the IT category space. Whilst there are many IT Category specialists out there in the London market, its about identifying the strategic skill-set rather than tactical purchasing which often makes up the bulk of the talent.

As a result of this skill being in high demand, we are seeing people in the IT category being paid up to £70k for a non-managerial role in this space.

With the upcoming chases to IR35 in April 2020, my estimate will be an increased requirement with candidates in the Professional Services/ Temp Labour category, in order to mitigate risk and help to formulate a company strategy going forward for the next year. As a result we are working with our clients to understand what support they can get from Hays as a recruitment partner for their overall temp workforce population.

A skill shortage remains in the public sector procurement market, and this is enhanced due to an ongoing mismatch between candidate’s salary expectations vs. employer’s salary packages available.

Current demand is strong with Procurement Officer and Manager level roles.  The market is moving away from category focused roles and we are seeing requests for generalist experience. The exception would be the construction and I.T category where specific category experience is highly sought after.

There has been a deliberate government move to relocate departments away from central London to areas such as Canary Wharf/Stratford/Croydon – this is creating movement through employees who don’t want to commute to these areas

Kate Langham - Private Sector and Christina Parry - Public Sector